Floyd Mayweather Banned Journalists Critical Of His History Of Domestic Abuse From The Fight

Floyd Mayweather, Jr., unrepentant domestic abuser and undefeated boxer, banned journalists who were critical of his past behavior from covering his fight against Manny Pacquiao.On Friday morning, both Rachel Nichols of CNN and Michelle Beadle of ESPN tweeted that they had been denied credentials to MGM Grand Arena to cover the much-hyped fight tonight. The two have been among the most prominent of reporters that have been highly critical of Mayweather's history of domestic abuse and misogyny.

In September, Nichols grilled Mayweather about his behavior in a CNN interview, to which he responded that there were "no pictures" of the injuries he inflicted on the mother of his children, and that "only God" could judge him:

Another writer, Martin Rogers, was also denied a credential to cover the fight. In November, he published an interview with Josie Harris, Mayweather's ex-girlfriend and mother of his three children that Mayweather beat and threatened to kill.

Kelly Swanson, Mayweather's publicist, of course denied the allegations, telling USA Today that it was all a "misunderstanding" and tweeted:

Uh-huh. A source tells Deadspin that Swanson told Showtime, who is airing the fight, that there was "no way" Nichols would get in.

Both Nichols and Beadle both had their ban from the fight lifted eventually. But neither reporter will be covering it ultimately: